London, Mar. 16  The United States warned Iran through a secret channel that it would launch military attacks on a number of nuclear sites in Iran if there was no diplomatic progress a month after the Islamic Republics referral to the United Nations Security Council, according to a Persian-language website run by associates of the former Iranian president, Mohammad Khatami.

Khatami was quoted by the website Rooz Online as telling allies that he had received a message through a third party from a senior United States official during a visit to Germany last autumn. The U.S. official had warned Iran that the U.S. would bomb the countrys nuclear sites if there is no breakthrough in resolving Irans nuclear dossier a month after the case is referred to the Security Council.

Khatami said that he conveyed the message to the countrys senior officials and the Supreme National Security Council, but not much attention has been paid to it, Rooz reported.

The International Atomic Energy Agency referred Iran to the Security Council at the end of the last meeting of its Board of Governors on March 8. The council can impose sanctions on Iran for violating its international obligations and concealing critical parts of its extensive nuclear program.

Irans top negotiator, Ali Larijani, reiterated on Thursday the theocratic regimes rejection of Western demands that Tehran stop trying to produce fuel that can be used in nuclear power stations or, if highly enriched, in bombs. The United States said diplomacy must succeed to avert a confrontation with the Islamic Republic.